Door or closure.



7 I PATENTED SEPT. 4', 1906.

N. 0. NELSON. DOOR OR- CLOSURE.

APPLIOATIOK FILED APBHBG. 1908.

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No- 880,355. PATENTED SEPT. 4, 1906.

N. 0. NELSON;

DOOR OR CLOSURE.

APPLICATION FILED APB.26. 1906.

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NELS O. NELSON, OF BUTTE, MONTANA.

DOOR OR CLOSURE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 4, 1906.

Application filed April 26, 1906. Serial No. 313,876.

To a, 107mm it marl/y concern:

Be it known that I, New 0. NELsoN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Butte, in the county of Silverbow and State of Montana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Doors or Closures; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in automatic or self-closing doors or closures for use in connection with traveling pulleys or carriages which run upon suspended tracks, and more particularly one adapted for use upon beef-coolers and similar refrigerators for closing the usual opening in the wall of the refrigerator above the usual door and through which the pulley and hanger for the beef-supporting hook passes when a beef or a portion thereof is moved into or out of the cooler or refrigerator.

T he object of the invention is to provide a simple and practical device of this character which will be entirely automatic in operation and well adapted for the purpose intended.

lVith the above and other objects in view the invention consists of certain novel features of construction, combination, and ar rangement of parts, as will be hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of a wall of a beef-cooler or refrigerator, showing the usual door in its open position and my improved automatic or self-closing door in its closed position in full lines and in open position in dotted lines. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken on the plane indicated by the line 2 2 in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a detail vertical sectional view taken on the plane indicated by the line 3 3 in Fig. 1; and Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the plane indicated by the line 4 4 in Fig. 1, showing my improved door in its normal or closed position in full lines and in the position which its parts assume when the beefsuspending pulley or carriage is moved out of the refrigerator in dotted lines.

Referring to the drawings by numerals, 1 denotes a wall of a beef-cooler or similar refrigerator, having a swinging door 2, which closes the usual door-opening 3, above which is provided an opening 41 to permit the usual beef-suspending pulley or carriage 5 to pass into and out of the refrigerator upon its suspended track 6. These parts may be of any desired form and construction.

My improved self-closing door 7 is adapted to automatically close the opening 4 and consists of two similar members 8 9, each of which in turn consists of two sections 10 11. The sections 10 are slidably mounted to move toward and from each other upon the outer side of the wall 1, and the sections 11 are hingedly mounted to swing upon the inner ends of the sections 1.0. Each of the sections 10 consists of a rectangular body or plate having beveled upper and lower edges 12 to engage and slide in guide-cleats 13 upon the wall 1 or a suitable base-plate thereon, and its sliding movement is limited by a stud 14, which projects through a longitudinal slot 15 in said section 10. Each of the sections 10 is forced inwardly by a coiled spring 16, which surrounds a rod 17, projecting from the outer edge of said section and slid able in a cleat 18, provided upon the wall 1, said spring being confined between said cleat and the outer edge of the section 10, as clearly shown in Fig, 1. Each of the swinging sections 11 is in the form of a substantially rectangular body or plate, which has its outer vertical edge connected to the inner edge of one of the sections 10, preferably by means of spring-hinges 19, so that said sections 11 are forced normally inward against the wall 1 to cause their inner edges to contact with each other and close the opening 1 and so that they will be permitted. to swing outwardly and away from each other when the pulley 5 presses against their inner faces while being moved out of the refrigerator. The inner edges of the sections 11 have formed in their lower portions opposing recesses through which the track 6 extends, and upon the upper and outer portions of said inner edges in the path of the pulley 5 are provided cam elements, which are here shown as outwardlyeXtendingwedge-shaped blocks 21. The latter have their inclined opposing outer faces so disposed that when the pulley 5 is moved into the refrigerator it will wedge between them and force them apart, their separation being permitted by the sliding movement of the door-sections 10 in their guides 13.

The construction, operation, and advantages of the invention will be readily understood from the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawlngs.

It will be seen that my improved doors 8 9 will normally assume their closed position, (shown in full lines in Fig. 1,) and that when tge pulley or carriage 5, on which a beef or t e track 6 inwardly into the refrigerator the engagement of said pulley with the wedges 21 will cause the doors 8 9 to slide apart until the pulley passes through said opening, whereupon the springs 16 will force the doors again to their closed position. When the pulley is moved in the reverse direction, or outwardly through the opening 4, its engagement with the inner face of the swinging sections 11 of the doors 8 '9 will swing said sections outwardly upon their hinges 9, and as soon as they are cleared of the pulley the springs of said hinges 19 will swing them to their closed position. The device is thus entirely automatic in operation, so that it dispenses with the necessity of closing the usual door for the opening 4 by hand. It is of simple, durable, and practical construction and its parts may be made of wood, metal, or any other suitable material in any size, according to the nature of the opening to be closed.

Various changes in the form, proportion, and the minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the principle or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention as defined by the appended claims. i

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A wall having an opening, a track eX- tending through said opening, a closure for said opening having a longitudinally-movable member, and a hinged member connected thereto and having a cam element, a spring to move said closure longitudinally to closed position, a spring to close the hinged member thereof across the said opening, and a carriage on said track, to engage and coact with the cam element of the hinged member to move both of the members of the closure longitudinally and permit the carriage to pass the closure in one direction, said carriage when moved in the opposite direction striking and opening the hinged spring-closed ike is suspended, is moved upon the member of the closure, substantially as described.

2. A closure of the character described comprising a spring-actuated sliding section, a spring-actuated swinging section hingedly connected to said sliding section, a wedge upon "saidswinging section, and means for limiting the movement of said sliding section.

3. A closure of the character described comprising guides, sliding sections therein, springs for moving said sliding sections inwardly, swinging sections hinged upon the sliding sections, springs for actuating said swinging sections, and oppositely-disposed wedges upon said swinging sections.

4. In a closure of the character described, the combination with a wall having an opening therein, of guides upon said wall, sliding sections in said guides, means for limiting the movement of said sliding sections, springs for moving said sliding sections inwardly, swinging sections hinged upon the inner ends of said sliding sections, springs for actuating said swinging sections, and wedge-blocks upon the abutting inner ends of said swinging sections.

5. In a closure of the character described, the combinationwith a wall having an opening therein, a track extending through said opening and a movable carriage upon said track, of guides upon said wall, sliding sections in said guides having longitudinal slots, stops engaged with said slots for limiting the sliding movement of said sections, rods projecting from the outer ends of said sections, coil-springs upon said rods for forcing said sections inwardly, swinging sections hingedly connected to the inner ends of said sliding sections, springs for swinging said swinging sections to their closed position, said swinging sections having their inner edges shaped to receive said track, and wedge-shaped blocks upon the outer faces of said swinging sections adjacent to their abutting inner ends, substantially as shown and described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

NELS O. NELSON. Witnesses:

OTTO STROH, FRANK ALLEN. 

